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Chapter 6
第6章
New England
新英格蘭
42. The Puritans.
42．清教徒
The New England colonies were founded by English Puritans who left England because they could not do as they wished in the home land. All Puritans were agreed in wishing for a freer government than they had in England under the Stuart kings and in state matters were really the Liberals of their time. In religious matters, however, they were not all of one mind. Some of them wished to make only a few changes in the Church. These were called Non-Conformists. Others wished to make so many changes in religion that they could not stay in the English State Church. These were called Separatists. The settlers of Plymouth were Separatists; the settlers of Boston and neighboring towns were Non-Conformists.
新英格蘭殖民地由英國清教徒創立，他們因為在家鄉不能實現理想而離開英格蘭。所有清教徒都希望看到一個更為自由的政府，這個政府比英格蘭的斯圖亞特王朝更給人以自由。他們都認為自己是那個時代國家事務的自由人。然而，在宗教事務中他們意見不一，有的人僅僅希望在教堂中做出一點改變，這就是非英國國教徒；其他人則希望在宗教事務中做出許多改革，從而使得他們不可能聚集到英國國教中，這些人就是所謂分離主義者。普利茅斯的聚居者是分離主義者，而波士頓和附近城鎮的居民都是非英國國教徒。
43. The Pilgrims.
43．朝圣者
Of all the groups of Separatists scattered over England none became so famous as those who met at Elder Brewster's house at Scrooby. King James decided to make all Puritans conform to the State Church or to hunt them out of the land. The Scrooby people soon felt the weight of persecution. After suffering great hardships and cruel treatment they fled away to Holland. But there they found it very difficult to make a living. They suffered so terribly that many of their English friends preferred to go to prison in England rather than lead such a life of slavery in Holland. So the Pilgrims determined to found a colony in America. They reasoned that they could not be worse off in America, because that would be impossible. At all events, their children would not grow up as Dutchmen, but would still be Englishmen. They had entire religious freedom in Holland; but they thought they would have the same in America.
英格蘭各地分散聚居著許多分離主義者群體，它們都沒有斯科羅比聚集在老布魯斯特家族的那些人著名。詹姆斯國王下了決心，要讓所有清教徒都服從于國教，否則，就把他們逐出英格蘭。斯科羅比人很快就感受到這種迫害的壓力，他們歷經磨難逃往荷蘭，但是，他們發現在荷蘭謀生非常困難，他們的遭遇非常之慘，以至于他們的英國朋友當中有許多人寧愿選擇進英格蘭的監獄也不想在荷蘭過這種奴隸生活。因此，朝圣者決心在美洲創建一片殖民地，他們認為自己在美洲的處境不可能會更糟糕，因為這種情況是不可能出現的，無論如何，他們的孩子長大將不會像是荷蘭人，而仍然是英國人。朝圣者在荷蘭有宗教自由，但是，他們認為自己在美洲也有會有同樣的自由。
44. The Voyage across the Atlantic.
44．橫穿大西洋的航行
Brewster's old friend, Sir Edwin Sandys, was now at the head of the Virginia Company. He easily procured land for the Pilgrims in northern Virginia, near the Dutch settlements. Some London merchants lent them money. But they lent it on such harsh conditions that the Pilgrims' early life in America was nearly as hard as their life had been in Holland. They had a dreadful voyage across the Atlantic in the Mayflower. At one time it seemed as if the ship would surely go down. But the Pilgrims helped the sailors to place a heavy piece of wood under one of the deck beams and saved the vessel from going to pieces. On November 19, 1620, they sighted land off the coast of Cape Cod. They tried to sail around the cape to the southward, but storms drove them back, and they anchored in Provincetown harbor.
此時，布魯斯特的老朋友埃德溫·森迪斯爵士是弗吉尼亞公司的領導者，他輕而易舉地在弗吉尼亞北部靠近荷蘭聚居地的地方為朝圣者獲得一片土地，一些倫敦商人借給他們錢，但是，他們為之付出了慘痛代價，朝圣者最初在美洲的生活一如他們在荷蘭的生活一樣艱辛。他們乘坐“五月花”號船，經過艱難的航行穿過大西洋，有一次他們的船似乎注定要沉入大海，但是，朝圣者幫助水手們將一塊沉重的木板放到甲板平衡木的下面，船才免于厄運。1620年11月19日，他們遠遠地看到科德角的陸地，并試圖繞過科德角向南航行，但是，風暴將他們趕回來，他們在普羅文森特港口拋錨。
